Do you ever have a thought when you’re participating in an activity that is not engaging such as “A-ha?” Or a moment where a light bulb comes on or an answer to a latent dilemma just comes to you. This phenomenon is known as the Eureka Moment. Let’s talk for a minute about health, more specifically, mental health. Discussions along this subject matter involve stress and the management of it. This discussion will focus more on mind and body connections and how to preserve your vigor of life for longevity.

Alice Flaherty, a renowned neuroscientist that researches creativity, provides an answer. Our creative potential stems from a chemical known as dopamine. The more dopamine that is released, the more creative our thoughts and thought -process is constructed, she says:

“People vary in terms of their level of creative drive according to the activity of the dopamine pathways of the limbic system.”

The quote above means our thoughts are driven by dopamine, a natural reoccurring organic chemical compound that is produced in the brain that communicates to other microcells and roles in emotion, behavior, motivation, long-term memory, and smelling sense. Emotional life is largely housed in the limbic system, and it critically aids the formation of memories. The increase production of this compound cements and creates permanent connections with instincts and mood. This explains why we feel the way we do, why we behave the way we do and how we build our personal and social constructs of belief.

This means that the triggers we experience make us feel great and relaxed, and are thereby related to dopamine! This is not prejudice to age, gender but a wide variance from person to person. Below are some triggers:

· Music!

· Fitness!

· Meditation!

· Reading!

These are ever changing from person to person with no measurable consistency. Now, ask yourself, what “drives” you? Understanding what drives you will increase your chances of coming in to the “eureka or a-ha” moment.

A Harvard researcher, Carson, B. a Neurologist, that has long studied this phenomenon, labels it as a “distraction.”

“In other words, a distraction may provide the break you need to disengage from a fixation on the ineffective solution.’’

One popular maxim that is often quoted is that of Socrates and it says: “To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom.”